Nikki Fernandez was one of the middle sectionsurvivors from Flight 815. She spent most of her time on the Island isolated from the other survivors with her boyfriend Paulo. Before the Island, she had staged an affair with a producer whom the pair then murdered and robbed. They lost the diamonds they stole in the crash and spent much of their time on the Island trying to recover them. After her greed and anger drove her to throw a female Medusa spider onto Paulo, a male spider bit her, paralyzing her. The survivors mistook her for dead and killed her by burying her alive.

Contents

Before the crash

Exposé

Nikki Fernandez was an Americanactress originally from Los Angeles, California, who landed the guest starring role of Corvette on the Australian television show Exposé. In a scene from the finale of the fourth season, Corvette walked onto the stage, the MC declaring her the "Pride of St. Paul". However, Corvette's performance was interrupted when she noticed two businessmen walking into an office. She investigated, and upon entering found Mr. LaShade, played by Billy Dee Williams, handling the money for an orphanage and deduced that he was part of the villainous force in the series. LaShade then shot her in the chest three times as she tried to take down the other men, exclaiming her catch phrase "razzle dazzle." LaShade then told the two heroines of the show, Autumn and Crystal, that Corvette was working for the Cobra. After the cut in filming was called, Billy Dee helped Nikki up, and both remarked that it was an honor to have worked with each other. Howard L. Zukerman, the creative force behind the series, then announced to the crew that it was a series wrap for Corvette and thanked Nikki for her work. ("Exposé")

Conning Zukerman

Zukerman then took her outside and, against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbor and the Opera House, told her they didn't have to kill her off; that she could have not died or been wearing a bullet proof vest, but she proved this impossible by revealing that Corvette was wearing a faux diamond bikini at the time of her death. He then told her that he expected her to return to L.A now her work on Exposé had concluded, but she said that she wasn't leaving because she loved him.

Nikki breaks into Zukerman's safe, shortly after his poisoning. ("Exposé")

Some time later, Nikki and Zukerman were dining at his large home and Nikki complimented the food. Zukerman then told her of his newest chef, Paulo, whom he introduced to Nikki, and the two playfully bantered among themselves. After Paulo departed, Zukerman recited the story of his hiring of Paulo before offering Nikki a bread roll, and upon taking it she realized that a diamond bracelet was hidden underneath. Zukerman then professed that it wasn't a ring, yet, but as soon as his wife was out of the way — but he was stopped in his tracks as he started to choke. A worried Nikki called for Paulo, but soon he was dead. At this point, Nikki and Paulo gave up their ruse and tore away the key he wore around his neck. They then proceeded to a secret room and opened the safe. Paulo started to light up a cigarette, but Nikki stopped him, foreshadowing with the lament, "Ashes are evidence, Paulo. We poisoned him, let's not poison ourselves." Inside the safe they found a matryoshka doll, and upon opening it, Nikki and Paulo found $8 million worth of diamonds, which made Nikki exclaim, "Razzle freakin' dazzle." ("Exposé")

Oceanic Flight 815

The day of Oceanic Flight 815, Nikki and Paulo sat in the Sydney Airport cafe reading a newspaper article which told the story of Zukerman's death and said that he was presumed to have died from a heart attack. After Paulo told Nikki that he was chewing nicotine gum, having quit smoking for her, they shared a toast to their new life together. However, they were soon interrupted by Shannon and Boone arguing about finding a seat, with Shannon complaining that there were no seats free and screaming that Boone had already lost them their first class seats so why could he find seats here. Boone then asked if he could take a chair from Nikki and Paulo's table and they agreed, but Shannon stormed off, wanting to leave. As they watched the feuding couple leave, with Shannon telling Boone to "stop flirting with random guys," Nikki asked Paulo to promise they would never end up like them, and Paulo made her that promise. The couple then boarded the doomed flight. ("Exposé")

On the Island

Days 1-49 (Season 3)

Immediately after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Nikki began searching through the wreckage to find Paulo. However her search was interrupted as she was warned by John Locke to get out of the way of the turbine which was close to exploding and to get down. Nikki witnessed first hand the death of Gary Troup, who didn't listen to Locke's warning and was sucked into the turbine forcing it to explode. Close to giving in, Nikki saw a pair of feet sticking out from under the wreckage and helped the man, who she thought was Paulo, up. The man was Leslie Arzt, who questioned if he had survived. Nikki walked off, only to be asked by Boone if she had a pen, a request Jack made to help save Rose. Nikki gave up hope on finding Paulo, only to see him at the edge of the beach looking out to sea, severely shell shocked. Despite the desperate situation, Nikki had only one question - "Where are the diamonds?"

Six days later, Nikki and Paulo searched the camp for her script bag, which contained the $8 million worth of diamonds. Paulo, however, was more preoccupied with the Monster in the jungle than finding the script bag. They were then approached by a fellow survivor, who introduced himself as Ethan Rom, who told them that there were spare clothes they could use should they need it. Nikki thanked him and replied, they didn't need clothes. They further explained, Paulo had lost his nicotine gum. Ethan advised them to look inland as the plane split apart over the Island. They were interrupted by Arzt, who was yelling that it was Boone who had stolen the water. As chaos began to fall on the camp, Jack returned and calmed everyone. Nikki was present as Jack delivered his "live together, die alone" speech.

Two weeks later, Nikki went to Arzt'stent where he was observing some of the new species he had found. He claimed he would be the next Charles Darwin. She asked if he was a scientist, to which Arzt responded "An educator, yes." He then told her about his most interesting and dangerous discovery - the Latrodectus Regina, also known as the Medusa Spider, and claimed its pheromones were so strong that it could attract every male of the species, likening it to Nikki. She then asked if he knew anything about trajectories and he agreed to draw her a map to help her find her luggage.

Nikki and Paulo find the entrance to the Pearl whilst searching for the diamonds. ("Exposé")

Nikki and Paulo, following the map that Arzt drew, began to search for their luggage. Paulo was initially skeptical about listening to a junior high science teacher and Nikki joked that Paulo was jealous of Arzt. Bitterly, Paulo responded that he wouldn't be surprised given that she slept with Zukerman, a comment that Nikki did not take well. However, their search led them to the Beechcraft plane that sat atop the canopy. Nikki told Paulo to climb up and see if the plane had a radio, but he refused, asking "Do you want me to die?" Upon turning around they found the entrance to the Pearl station and opened the door. Paulo was initially happy to climb down the shaft into the dark tunnel, but Nikki refused to let him, saying their bag wouldn't have opened a manhole and climbed down. They continued their search and didn't tell the survivors of their discoveries.

Nine days later, Nikki and Paulo overheard an argument between Shannon, Arzt, and Kate over the Marshal's Halliburton case which Shannon announced that Kate and her twoboyfriends had found. After an annoyed Shannon and Arzt walk away, Nikki asked Kate where they found the case. At the waterfall, Paulo asked why he had to jump in, and she responded that he reminded her on every chance that she slept with Zukerman and so therefore he had to do this for them. Worried, he asked Nikki if she would need him without the bags. Nikki reminded him the bag is worth $8 million dollars and ordered him to dive into the water. Paulo took this response as her saying that she wouldn't need him if they found the bag and after diving in, he returned to the surface and told her the bag was not there. She walked away, unaware he was lying as he went to retrieve the bag from the bottom of the water. Paulo tried to bury the diamonds on the beach later, but eventually decided to leave them in the Pearl station. ("Exposé")

Days 72-81 (Season 3)

When Locke and Charlie returned from saving Eko after the Swan implosion and brought him back to camp, Nikki and Paulo assisted them, and Nikki lamented they needed Jack to help the injured survivor. However, at this point Hurley told the group that Jack wasn't coming back and the Others had him. This infuriated Nikki, who questioned why Hurley hadn't told them sooner. Locke, however, delivered a speech to Nikki, Paulo, Claire, Charlie, and Hurley saying they would find Jack, Kate, and Sawyer together. He then told Nikki and Paulo to fetch towels to help Eko. ("Further Instructions")

A few days later, Locke alerted the group that planned to head out to the Pearl Station to both attempt communication with the Others and to trail a missing Eko. Nikki decided she would like to join him and tried to become more involved with the group - something Paulo did not approve. He questioned why she wanted to go, and she replied he was always complaining about not being included and this was their chance. Nikki and Paulo then joined Locke, Desmond, and Sayid and they ventured to the Pearl.

Inside, Nikki watched the orientation video for the station as the others attempted to work out the wiring. She, however, noticed that Mark Wickmund said that there were six stations, and Nikki questioned if the other TV's were connected to the other hatches. As the others worked on feeding a connection from other stations, Paulo emerged from the toilet - Nikki was unaware that he had just continued his deception by hiding the diamonds. Sayid managed to successfully patch the feed from the Flame station, which revealed a man wearing an eye patch. Locke then observed that he would be expecting them. The sound of the Monster, however, called the survivors up from the Pearl station and they arrived to find Eko who died from the wounds he sustained from an attack by the Black Smoke. ("The Cost of Living")("Exposé")

Moments after Eko's death, Nikki questioned what happened to him and Locke lied, saying that it must have been an animal, despite his knowledge of what really killed him. Locke and Sayid departed to find Eko's stick covered with scripture, and they buried Eko at the entrance to the Pearl station. Nikki then returned to the beach camp. ("I Do")

Several days later Hurley found a DHARMA van in the jungle and asked for volunteers to help him fix the van and get it going again for a source of fun to relieve the stress of Island life. Nikki seemed to want to help him, but Paulo refused to allow her - pulling her back by the loop of her shorts and she apologized as he did so. When Kate and Sawyer returned to the camp Nikki was among the survivors who welcomed them back - hugging Kate first and then Sawyer. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")

Later, Nikki was among the survivors who helped in carrying the ping-pong table from the imploded Swan and she helped in setting it up. However, Sawyer soon noticed that the survivors had been taking his stash during his absence and, when he confronted them about it, Nikki spoke up and said that it wasn't his to start with, to which he responded, "Who the hell are you?" Sawyer was forced to release ownership of his stash when he lost to Hurley. ("Enter 77")

A few days later Nikki and Paulo sat on the beach together, and she confessed to him that she was sad that Thanksgiving passed a few weeks back, and they didn't even remember to celebrate it. She began to worry that they would never be rescued from the island, but Paulo comforted her. He said he was glad that they didn't find the diamonds (even though he was in possession of them at the time) because it was beginning to tear them apart as a couple. He left Nikki to go get them both some breakfast, and accidentally left his nicotine gum in the sand, which fell out of his pocket. Nikki picked the nicotine gum up, and realized that he must have found their bags if he had found the gum, because they were stored together when on the plane - putting two and two together, she realized she had been double crossed by Paulo.
Later, Desmond saw Nikki arguing with Sawyer. She demanded that Sawyer let her have one of the guns he had in his possession, but he refused, saying she was too agitated, and it wouldn't do any good if he gave her one. He commented he didn't have the guns anymore anyway, yelling "Who the hell are you?" as she stormed away from him in anger and frustration.

Nikki later pretended she was taking Paulo to a secret location, but then, in the jungle, she confronted him. He lied to her, saying that he didn't have the diamonds, but Nikki showed him the gum. She produced one of the jars from Arzt's specimen jars and threw the Medusa Spider from the jar at Paulo. She then described to him that it was called the Medusa Spider because it slowed the heart rate of the victim down to a point where it was almost undetectable for around eight hours. Paulo's paralysis then began to set in, and Nikki began to search for the diamonds, first throwing off his shoe and then realizing he hid them in his underwear. He told her he hid them because he thought if she had the diamonds she wouldn't need him anymore. She realized what she had done and stared apologetically at Paulo. However, the ticking sounds of the Monster were heard and an onslaught of male Medusa Spiders appeared, but a distracted Nikki didn't realize. She was then bitten by one of the spiders, a personification of the monster itself, on the ankle.

Following her bite from the Medusa Spider, Nikki began to run back to the beach camp to warn them of her and Paulo's predicament, but stopped briefly to bury the diamonds for safe keeping. Nikki made her way back to the beach camp, collapsing in front of Sawyer and Hurley at the ping-pong table. She attempted to utter "paralyzed" as they crowded around her, but they couldn't understand what she was saying due to her paralysis. As Sawyer began to leave to try and get help, Hurley stopped him and told that him Nikki was dead, to which he responded "Who the hell is Nikki?"

Because of her mysterious and ambiguous last words, Sawyer, Hurley, Charlie, Jin, Desmond, and Sun attempted to unravel the mystery about what happened to the little-known couple, who were both paralyzed and presumed dead after Paulo was also found in the jungle. The group ransacked the couple's tent, finding Paulo's walkie (causing suspicions that the pair were in league with the Others) and the Exposé script, which Hurley commented he was a big fan of. Hurley began to suspect Sawyer played a part in their "deaths" due to Desmond seeing him arguing with Nikki hours earlier; however Sawyer maintained his innocence, and the group continued to bury Nikki and Paulo. However, during this, Vincent dragged the black material off their bodies, forcing them to be buried without it. Having dug the graves and placed the "corpses" inside, Sawyer mumbled, "Rest in peace, Nikki and Paulo," getting their names right, and scattered their diamonds over their bodies. Hurley then gave a eulogy and said even though they appeared to have killed each other over the diamonds, they were nice to him, and that he liked Exposé. Hurley and Sawyer then began to fill the graves.

Slowly, the sand began to cover their bodies, and just as it covered their faces, the spider's venom began to wear off, and Nikki opened her eyes to see sand hitting her face. Unable to move and warn the survivors of their real state, Nikki and Paulo were buried alive. ("Exposé")

In the summer of 2005, the season four finale of Exposé aired on Korean TV. Moments before Sun went to labor with her baby, the Korean dub of Nikki's character, Corvette's death at the hands of Mr. LaShade was playing on Sun's TV, until she turned it off. However, Sun didn't seem to recognize Nikki in the program. ("Ji Yeon")

Just beyond the opening of the Cliffside cave is a room in which Jacob had written the last names of several candidates on the walls and ceiling, and a number preceding each one. When the wall is first seen, all of the names and numbers are crossed out except for those preceded by one of The Numbers. The Man in Black explained that each name is the name of a candidate. Nikki's surname Fernandez is crossed out, presumably due to her death. According to it, her number was 321. ("The Substitute")

Three years after her death, Miles said to Ben that he didn't need Ben's money, because Nikki and Paulo had 8 million dollars worth of diamonds buried with them. It also appeared that Miles "spoke" to Nikki and/or Paulo due to the fact he knew they were buried alive. Afterward, Miles was shown with a diamond in his hand, implying he had dug up their graves to retrieve them. ("Dr. Linus")

Trivia

Nikki is one of 13 main characters to not have their name appear in a soundtrack title.

Nikki has appeared in only one episode after her death, appearing on a television in a flashforward in "Ji Yeon", although she appeared for less than a second.

A deleted scene introduced Nikki and Paulo in another way: Claire is taking care of Aaron when she hears some weird noises coming from Jack's tent. She starts to call Jack's name, and when she opens the tent she sees Nikki and Paulo having sex there. This scene was deleted from "Further Instructions", however pre-broadcast summaries of the episode seem to reference this particular scene, implying that it was removed at the last minute.

Nikki and Paulo were the sixth and seventh main characters to be killed.

According to an Entertainment Weekly article, Nikki and Paulo were originally supposed to be part of a longer storyarc, with one episode having its flashbacks devoted to Nikki's fictional television show, Exposé, to end with a surprise twist (presumably revealing that those "flashbacks" were merely part of a television show Nikki was acting in). Faced with the negative fan backlash to the two characters' abrupt introduction, however, the producers, already facing declining ratings for the show, decided back in December 2006 to trim down the storyarc and kill off the two characters in a single episode.

The Monster was heard, but not seen, moments before Nikki receives the spider bite.

Nikki originally held the record amount of least number of episode appearances for a main character, with six. However, since she appeared on the television in "Ji Yeon", she is now joint bottom with Paulo.

Originally, only Nikki was going to emerge from the background characters as a main character, but due to the fact Juliet was being newly introduced in Season 3, the producers decided to include a male in the new Season 3 characters, so as to weight it a little more evenly. They then decided to create the character of Paulo as Nikki's boyfriend and accomplice. [source needed]

Cultural references

Nikki mentions to Zukerman about her character's death in Exposé that death is just what happens to guest stars on the show. Similarly, guest characters in Lost (like Nikki) have been or are potentially subject to death.

Exposé tips its hat to J.J. Abrams' Alias.Nikki guest stars in a one-word titled TV show playing a female agent posing as a stripper to track down criminals.

The episode features a shocking twist as Mr. LaShade turns out to be the Cobra, a common theme in Alias.Hurley reads the script and suggests that for 4 seasons Exposé has been building to the point of revealing the true identity of the Cobra.